Making the complex simple: top tips for writers

The point of good content is to convey information to the reader in the simplest and most direct way possible. This is pretty easy to do if you are writing about relatively simple concepts, but becomes more difficult if you’re writing about scientific, legal, tech or financial topics (as we often are).

The people who work in these industries, creating innovative products and writing technical documents, are experts in their fields. This means that they have a deep knowledge of a particular area. It also means that they can often appear incomprehensible when explaining their field to a layperson.

A really good example of this is the recently established, and currently flourishing, blockchain market. One of the characteristics of blockchain companies is the use of dense, intentionally difficult technical language. Here is an example from a company called Decred, explaining their core offering:

Don’t worry if you can’t decipher what Decred is claiming to do. As we said earlier, the language being used has been chosen deliberately.

So, how would you summarise what this company does so that a reader with little knowledge of what a blockchain is would be able to understand?

Here are our top tips for writing about complex topics.

Get some context

Nothing exists in isolation, everything is connected to something else. An important first step is putting the subject you are writing about in context.

This not only helps the audience get a better handle on the subject matter, but it is important for understanding why the audience needs to know about it in the first place.

The context here is blockchain, so let’s start with that.

Blockchain technology is an innovative way of storing and distributing information. Instead of a piece of data being stored on a central server and then retrieved by each individual device that needs it, on a blockchain network the data is distributed (not copied) across every device in the network. This means that it cannot be tampered with without everyone in the network consenting, validating and recording the change.

The technology is currently taking the financial world by storm as it could greatly speed up transactions. The shipping and logistics, pharmaceutical and real estate are also actively piloting the technology.

So Decred’s claim of “unique adaptability” means that blockchain technology can be applied to a wider range of scenarios.

Break it up

The best way to learn about something is to break it up into its smallest constituent pieces, before building it back up again.

In Decred’s example, the smaller chunks of quick research could look like this:

By researching each of these phrases individually, you would end up with something like this:

Programming code that can be broken into smaller, distinct pieces for use in a variety of applications >> an innovative new way for transferring data >> cryptocurrency transactions that occur on a blockchain >> a method for allowing users to directly control matters relating to the network >> decision-making process defined by participation of multiple independent parties

Even just this brief outline begins to present a much clearer picture of what the company actually does.